Abstract
The onset of the pandemic saw shifts in messaging around the acceptability of alcohol consumption at different times and contexts. A psychometric analysis of responses to injunctive norms may reveal important differences in specific aspects of norms that were influenced by the pandemic. Study 1 used alignment analysis to evaluate measurement invariance in low- and high-risk injunctive norms across samples of Midwestern college students from 2019 to 2021. Study 2 used an alignment-within-confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach to replicate the solution from Study 1 in an independent longitudinal sample (N = 1,148) who responded between 2019 and 2021. For Study 1, the latent mean for high-risk norms was significantly higher in 2021, and the endorsement of four specific norms also differed. In Study 2, increases in latent means for low- and high-risk norms were observed across 2020 and 2021, and differential endorsement emerged for one high-risk norm item. Examining scale-level changes in injunctive drinking norms provides insight into how college students’ perceptions changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 237-247 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Assessment |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2024 |
Keywords
- alignment analysis
- alignment-within-CFA
- COVID-19
- injunctive drinking norms
- longitudinal measurement invariance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Applied Psychology